This book deals with the economic consequences of monetary integration, which has long been dominated by the Optimal Currency Area (OCA) paradigm. In this model, money is perceived as having developed from a private sector cost minimization process to facilitate transactions. Not surprisingly,...

This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of the past, present, and future of the European Economic and Monetary Union in its broader context. It incorporates economic, legal and political science perspectives to provide an in-depth and forward-looking scrutiny of the rationales, the main...

The success of European monetary integration-what the editors of this CESifo volume call "one of the most far-reaching, real world experiments in monetary policy to date"-is not assured. Policy makers have been forced to deal with challenges posed by formulating a uniform monetary policy for...